The University of Evansville men’s and women’s track and field teams took to Gibson Track and Field Complex as the Purple Aces continued to set program records on the second day of the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.

One of the most impressive performances of the day came in the men’s 800 meters preliminaries as freshman Stanley Chepchieng broke a 35-year old program record. Chepchieng, who had been inching closer and closer to the program mark throughout the regular season, captured the record for his own with a time of 1:53.46, finishing in 11th.

In the women’s 100 meter dash prelims, Monica Watkins led a pair of Purple Aces freshmen in the sprint with a time of 13.08 seconds, earning her a 19th-place finish, while Taylor Williams finished in 20th with a time of 15.91 seconds. On the men’s side, freshman Aaron Straight was the lone Ace in the sprint as Straight finished in 19th, crossing the line in a time of 11.82 seconds.
Freshman Lizzy Walston paced the Evansville contingent in the prelims of the 400 meter dash as Walston captured a 21st-place finish in a time of 1:00.92, just over a tenth of a second off the Aces’ program record. Following Walston was freshman Kylie Hasenour who crossed the finish line in a time of 1:07.97 in 23rd. In the men’s 400 meter dash, freshman Dawson Hood finished in 20th, crossing the line in a time of 59.50.

For the women in the 800 meters prelims, junior Sienna Crews set a new personal record and the second-best time in program history clocking a 2:19.85, finishing in 15th. Freshmen Sarah Poltrack (2:40.20) and Lexi Sutherland 2:54.39) earned 21st and 23rd place finishes for the Aces.

Freshman Samantha Bittner improved upon her own program record in the women’s 100 meter hurdles prelims with a time of 16.35 seconds, earning Bittner a 15th-place finish.

Bittner set her second program record of the day in the women’s 400 meter hurdles prelims as the freshman blew past her previous best time by nearly two seconds with a time of 1:11.23 as Bittner finished in 13th.

In the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase, freshman Anna Lowry shattered her own program record by more than 22 seconds, capturing a 14th-place finish crossing the line in a time of 11:41.59. A pair of freshmen in Ethan Price (10:10.65) and Kalen Ochs (10:59.69) took to the track for the Aces men in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, finishing in 20th and 21st, respectively.

Freshman Kylie Hasenour represented the Aces in the women’s long jump as Hasenour finished 19th with a distance of 3.50 meters. Earning a 17th-place finish for Evansville’s men in the long jump was freshman Kevin Yeung, who recorded a jump of 5.56 meters.

Finishing just a tenth of a meter off of one another in the men’s shot put were freshman Chris Zapata and junior Ryan Freeman. Zapata paced Evansville with a 14th place finish with a throw of 11.69 meters, while Freeman followed just behind with a throw of 11.59 meters. On the women’s side, Brittany Corley finished in 16th with a throw of 8.97 meters, earning the freshman a 16th-place finish.

The final day of competition begins on Sunday with field events beginning with the women’s triple jump at 11:30 a.m. and action on the track starting at 1 p.m. with the women’s 4×100 meter relay, directly followed by the men’s 4×100 meter relay. Live coverage of the final day’s competition is available on ESPN + beginning at 11:45 a.m. (CT).

Despite leading for much of the game, the University of Evansville baseball team was upended by a late inning rally, falling to Indiana State in the second contest of their three game set at Bob Warn Field Saturday afternoon, 3-2.

“Great effort from our club”, said Head Coach Wes Carroll. “They fought the very last pitch. You’ve got to give credit to that Indiana State offense.”

Scoreless in the second, the Purple Aces would break through against Sycamores’ starting pitcher Triston Perry, as a leadoff walk to senior first baseman Dalton Horstmeier, a bunt single from junior second baseman Sam Troyer and a sacrifice bunt from senior catcher Andrew Tanous put runners in scoring position with one out. Then, freshman designated hitter Evan Aders continued his clutch play with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Horstmeier for the icebreaker.

Junior starting pitcher Andrew Weigand would make that run stand through the next three frames, keeping the potent Indiana State off-balance at the plate, keeping them off the scoreboard for the first four innings. However, in the fifth, the Sycamores would knot the game up on a sacrifice fly from Dane Tofteland, making it a 1-1 game. However, that would be the only blemish on Weigand’s day, going six and 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit.

“Alex Weigand did an outstanding job keeping them (Indiana State’s lineup) at bay the entire day”, said Carroll. “Just the effort that we got from the junior to give us a chance was special. That’s exciting, because we know he’s going to give us a great effort in the conference tournament. So for him to give us a chance in winning time was special. I’m proud of his overall effort.”

In the top of the seventh, Evansville would snap the deadlock with a home run off the bat of Dalton Horstmeier against Polley, who sent his second round tripper over the center field wall, giving the Aces a 2-1 lead.

UE  would take that lead into the eighth frame, when senior reliever Ryan Brady ran into trouble, putting a pair in scoring position. Then, Romero Harris lifted a lace to left. The resulting single tallied C.J. Huntley from third. Dane Giesler would attempt to score the go-ahead run from second, but Aces sophomore left fielder Troy Beilsmith through a strike home, and Andrew Tanous would apply the tag, keeping the game knotted at 2.

That’s the way it would stay until the bottom of the ninth, when Indiana State put runners on the corners against Evansville freshman hurler Jace Burke. Then, Hayden Jaco sent a single through the left side of the infield, bringing in the game-winner.

“Offensively, we went up against some pretty good arms in Indiana State”, said Carroll. “We knew we were going to have our hands full, and we were able to scrap a run here or there, just not enough to close out the game.”

The loss drops the Aces to 10-34 on the season and 2-15 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The victory ups Indiana State’s record to 25-21 overall and 7-10 in the MVC.

The third and final game of the series is tomorrow back at Bob Warn Field. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. eastern time, noon central time.

University of Southern Indiana Softball racked up 10 hits and scored in all four of its offensive innings as it rolled to a 9-0, five-inning win over Hillsdale College in the second round of the NCAA Division II Midwest Region #1 Tournament.

The Screaming Eagles (33-22), winners of six straight games, began the onslaught by loading the bases in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, senior first baseman Marleah Fossett (Brownsburg, Indiana) was hit by a pitch to push across the first tally.

USI, the No. 5 seed in the tournament, got a two-run single from sophomore outfielder Allison Schubert (Nicholasville, Kentucky) in the second frame to extend its lead to 3-0; while a two-run double from sophomore pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) gave the Eagles a commanding 5-0 cushion in the third stanza.

The Eagles sent nine batters to the plate in their four-run fourth inning as junior catcher Lindsey Barr (Whitesville, Kentucky) produced an RBI-double before a bases-loaded walk gave junior second baseman Claire Johnson (Pittsboro, Kentucky) an RBI.

Leonhardt’s two-run single capped off the scoring as USI took a 9-0 lead into the fifth frame. Leonhardt (19-11), who was 4-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs, allowed just three hits to pick up her fifth complete-game shutout of the year. She had five strikeouts and issued just two walks.

USI returns to action Sunday at 10 a.m. (CDT) when it takes on the winner of the elimination bracket game between No. 9 Grand Valley State University and Hillsdale (25-15). Grand Valley State, the top seed, knocked out the No. 4 seed, University of Indianapolis, with a 5-0 win in the elimination bracket.

Hillsdale, the No. 8 seed, defeated the Lakers (41-8), 1-0, to Thursday to begin the regional. The winner of the Grand Valley State-Hillsdale contest will have to win twice on Sunday, while the Eagles are just one win away from their second straight trip to Super Regionals.

The University of Southern Indiana baseball team advanced to the Great Lakes Valley Conference “Championship Sunday” after eliminating Missouri University of Science & Technology, 10-0, and defeating the University of Indianapolis, 9-5, Saturday afternoon in the GLVC Tournament at U.S. Baseball Field in Ozark, Missouri. USI watched its record go to 32-20 overall, while Missouri S&T finishes the season, 26-26, and UIndy falls to 30-22.

The Screaming Eagles advance to “Championship Sunday” and a rematch with the UIndy Greyhounds at 9 a.m. for the right to play for the GLVC title Sunday afternoon. The GLVC Championship game will be played at 12:30 p.m. if Quincy University, the only undefeated team left in the tournament, defeats Bellarmine University in Saturday’s final contest at 7:30 p.m.

If Bellarmine defeats Quincy, the Knights and the Hawks would play an elimination game at 12:30 p.m. before the GLVC Championship game at 4 p.m.

USI 6, Missouri S&T 0: 
USI senior right-hand Kyle Griffin (Morganfield, Kentucky) threw eight shutout innings and posted a season-high with 11 strikeouts to lead the Eagles to a 10-0 victory. Griffin (5-3) also scattered five hits in his longest outing of the year and became the third USI hurler to reach five wins in 2018.

The 10 strikeouts marked the fourth time in Griffin’s USI career that he has reach double-digit strikeouts. He recorded 11 versus the University of Illinois Springfield and 12 versus Saint Joseph’s College in 2017 and a 10 strikeout game versus the University of Wisconsin-Parkside earlier this spring.

The Eagles provided all of the runs Griffin would need in the third inning, scoring twice, before sealing the victory with a pair of four-run frames in the eighth and ninth. Senior leftfielder Drake McNamara (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) pushed the first run across in the third with a fielder’s choice, while senior first baseman Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana) plated the second tally on a RBI-double.

USI would seal the victory with a four-run eighth. Junior designated hitter Brodie Brown (Carmi, Illinois) ignited the rally with a bases-loaded RBI-single, while senior third baseman Sam Griggs (Evansville, Indiana) made the score, 4-0, with a sacrifice fly.

USI junior catcher Logan Brown (Mt. Vernon, Indiana) increased the lead to 5-0 on a RBI-single up the middle before freshman shortstop Ethan Hunter (Terre Haute, Indiana) finished the scoring in the eighth with a RBI-ground out for a 6-0 advantage.

The Eagles capped off the scoring with another four-spot in the ninth inning, highlighted by a two-run single by Brodie Brown and a RBI-double by Griggs. Brodie Brown finished the team with a team-high three RBIs, while Logan Brown and Griggs followed with two RBIs each.

USI 9, UIndy 5:
The Eagles built and 8-0 lead before holding on to defeat the UIndy Greyhounds, 9-5, in Saturday’s 4 p.m. game of the GLVC Tournament. USI senior first baseman Nick Gobert (Jasper, Indiana) led the way for the Eagles with four hits and three runs scored in the victory.

The USI offense got going early with two runs in the second and one in the third to lead 3-0. The Eagles extended the lead to 8-0 with a five-run fourth inning that showcased RBI-doubles by senior leftfielder Drake McNamara and junior catcher Logan Brown and a two-run single by junior third baseman Sam Griggs. 

UIndy would respond with a pair of tallies in the sixth and a trio of runs in the seventh to cut the lead to 8-5 after seven frames. Gobert would score his third run of the game to push the lead back to 9-5 on a RBI-fielder’s choice by junior designated hitter Brodie Brown.

On the mound, junior left-hander Chase Partain (Evansville, Indiana) reached the four-win plateau after allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits and three walks. Partain (4-1) also struck out four in 6.2 innings of work.

Senior right-hander Nick Coudret (Newburgh, Indiana) followed Partain with 1.1 innings of work, giving up an unearned run on four hits. Gobert finished the game for the Eagles by striking out the side in the ninth.

Continuing coverage of Eagles baseball games this post-season can be found on GoUSIEagles.com. Watch Twitter, Facebook, and GoUSIEagles.com for any schedule changes due to weather.